Mexico using enviro tactics against US border fence

posted at 8:10 am on July 31, 2007 by Bryan

Well, they’ve done their homework on us. The way to get the US to back down or stop anything is to use the environmental impact angle.

Mexico called on the United States to alter a plan to expand border fences designed to stem illegal immigration, saying the barriers would threaten migratory species accustomed to roaming freely across the frontier.

Ways of minimizing environmental damage from the fences could include the creation of cross-border bridge areas so that ecosystems remain connected and “green corridors” of wilderness without roads that would be less attractive to smugglers, according to a report released Monday and prepared for the Mexican government by experts and activists from both nations.

The report also suggested “live” fences of cactuses, removable fencing, and more permeable barriers to allow water, insects and pollen to cross the border. Ecologists say among the species affected would be Mexican jaguars and black bears, and the endangered, antelope-like Sonora Pronghorn.

And the coyote.

Mexico also wants Washington to expand its environmental impact study on the fences and will file a complaint with the United Nations’ International Court of Justice in the Hague, Netherlands if necessary.

The proposed fencing includes at least 370 miles of vehicle barriers and metal walls supplemented by “virtual” barriers of sensors, mobile towers packed with sophisticated cameras, strong lights, radars and sensors and other technology.

The environmental report said the fences could isolate border animals into smaller population groups, affecting their genetic diversity. The strong lights and radar could interfere with nocturnal species, and the construction and traffic along the walls could affect a wider strip of border land than just the fences themselves, activists say.

Basically, they don’t want the fence at all, in either its virtual or actual designs, so they’re using the enviro angle to stop it. Like I said, they’ve done their homework on how to stop anything being built in the US.